Escape from reason

by Francis A. Schaeffer

Paperback, 1968

Status

Available

Call number

231 SCH

Genres

Religion & Spirituality

Nonfiction

History

Description

Truth used to be based on reason. No more. What we feel is now the truest source of reality. Despite our obsession with the emotive and the experiential, we still face anxiety, despair, and purposelessness. How did we get here? And where do we find a remedy? In this modern classic, Francis A. Schaeffer traces trends in twentieth-century thought and unpacks how key ideas have shaped our society. Wide-ranging in his analysis, Schaeffer examines philosophy, science, art, and popular culture to identify dualism, fragmentation, and the decline of reason. Schaeffer's work takes on a newfound relevance today in his prescient anticipation of the contemporary postmodern ethos. His critique demonstrates Christianity's promise for a new century, one in as much need as ever of purpose and hope.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member fuzzi

This book has been described as "a penetrating analysis of trends in modern thought", and it certainly is!

Written in 1968 by Francis Schaeffer, this is a deep and fascinating look at how the concept of reason has changed over the centuries, to the point where people not only think differently, but

claim that truth cannot be known, there are no absolutes.

It took me several days to work though the ideas inside this small book, but it was worth it, and gave me much to meditate upon.

I think I'll reread it, soon, too.

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LibraryThing member james.garriss

Schaffer does a nice job of tracing thinking (reasoning) from the time of Aquinas to the start of post-modernism. When Aquinas incorrectly interpreted the fall of man, he set in motion a chain of reasoning that finds its logical conclusion in post-modernism, wherein there is no God, there is no

truth, there are no morals, and man has no value. This is not my favorite subject and the reading is deep, but I still enjoyed this short book.

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LibraryThing member keylawk

Schaeffer takes the late Renaissance/ early Reformation period of the 15th and 16th century in Europe as a watershed of human history. The Renaissance emphasized human reason and the achievements of man. The Reformation emphasized the "will of God" and the authority of Scripture.

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